Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1887-09-28
THE RANCHER's STORY.
A Rough Winter on the Sun River
The Benefits Of Timely
Chinook.

One mild evening last May / was be-
ing entertained by Montana cattle baron
at his ranch on the north fork of the Sun
river. To the west the eternal SHOWS rest
ing on the summit on that stupendous
mountain wall, the Rockies, were shining
rose pink under the slanting rays of the
declining sun, a circle of feecy, gauzy
clouds invested like an aureole of glory
the SUBMITS of dozen of the higher
peaks while the lower slopes, black with
dense forests of mighty conifers were
purpling with the gloom which already
| had settled upon the wide reaches Of the
| plain below. The talk, at first of cattle
| and the "round ups' then in progress,
drifted into discussion on the material
progress of Montana, just now so power
! fully quickened in stock raising, farming
| and mining by the invasion of the fertile
valleys of the territory by young and
powerful rival of the old line of railway.
THE WEATHER DISCUSSED.
| Then ensued talk about the climate,
SO peculiar for those mild spells of wealth
er which oftlmes. even in the depth OF
midwinter, make the Montana valleys
warmer than the very shores OF the Gulf
of Mexico. I said that such weather must
be very acceptable after the extremely
cold periods, which Montana, situated in
the interior of the continent and at the
49th parallel, must at times during the
winter be subject to. My host taking his
| pipe from his mouth and looking reflect
<,,U dc,
| which, growing on the sod roof Of the
shack stood out in dark relief against the
now nearly departed twilight. said, "Yes,
you mean the 'chinooks.' They are our
salvat on Through their influences snow
rarely lies on the ground long at time,
and our cattle and horses are seldom de-
prived Of free access to the nutrious sun
cured grass of the ranges. must tell you
about my first experience with Chinook
was then a tenderfoot, or as we call
them here pilgrim.
/ BESIDE THE RIVER.
! at was in the spring Of '76 that sold
my Indiana farm and turning my face to
the setting sun. set my stakes here ia the
grassy ranges Of the Sun river. During
summer drove my she-eattle in from
Texas and got my buildings up in snug
shape for winter. The autumn Was beau
tiful; succession of bright sunny days,
so mild, and lasting so late that / almost
thought that blizzard as applied to Mon
tana was misnomer and that winter
would never come But was mistaken.
/ remember it was the 23rd of December
when the dreaded change of the weather
came. Then followed the first flakes OF
what proved to he one of the deepest
SHOWS of Il decade Condensed by tho
great cold the air remained stagnant day
by day. By the eighth day after the storm
my foreman began to bring in reports of
deaths among the calves and old COWS Of
my ssband,' and had seriously begun to
consider the advisability of riding tho
range and driving the cattle from the deep
couIees of the eutlaying and more expos
ed ranges to the better protected willow
and cottonwood chapparel along the river,
where the buds ano tender bark on the
trees and brush would at least furnish q
little picking. when deliveranee came.
, FAvoRING GALES.
On that day, when the sun set behind
the western mountains, clothed in their
ineffable glory of freshly fallen snow, q
] peculiar glow lit up even the lower val
,. leys. Long bars of yellow light streamed
to the zenith. Though all below waa
still, dull moaning sound came from the
higher ranges. The tall frs and pines
i under the influence of some invisible pow
!. er wildly swayed and tossed their heads,
;, while from the high SUBMITS long stream